The fate of the House Republicans’ bill to defund National Public Radio was practically preordained. In a 228-to-192 vote Thursday afternoon, the House passed the bill, which would prevent NPR from using federal funds for its programming. Not a single Democrat split from their party to vote for the bill, but seven Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing it.
Sponsored by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., the bill was rushed to the House floor via an emergency vote in the Rules Committee on Wednesday. The way the Republicans moved the bill was almost as contentious as the bill itself, leading to lively debates in the morning and afternoon.
In the same way that the bill had little chance of going down to defeat in the House, it will have little chance of success in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where a Republican or two is expected to join the majority and shoot it down.
President Obama is also expected to wield his veto pen if the bill somehow manages to make it past the Senate. In a statement released Thursday, the administration came out in strong opposition to the bill.
This is the second time this year the Republicans have attempted to attack funding for public broadcasting. Their first attempt was an amendment to a continuing resolution funding the government that would have zeroed out funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It died in the Senate.
